Topic: The UEFA Nations League 2020/2021 Discussion Thread - page 2. (Read 17140 times)

Thank you for your very emotional and nice words about my national team.
As you probably know, Croatia is a very young country, we also had a war, which is why our national pride is even bigger and stronger.
We have a strong team again, which showed its strength and quality in the matches against France and Denmark in the League of Nations, and I believe that with a bit of luck we can again achieve a very good result at the World Cup in Qatar.
Final again? Why not? 

Well, I think that what Italy has lacked is more luck, there are two World Cups in a row that don't go, and something has to be done, Italian football lacks something and they have to do something to correct it, otherwise we won't see them for the next World Cup neither, and that is something very serious for this team, particularly, Italy is the team that I have always gone to the World Cup and I did not want them to see their faces for qualification with Portugal, fortunately it was not like that, but I think it is not like that either , Italy should always be considered, and if, like you think for me, it is the best team, I think the Nations League is more of a preparation match for the World Cup.


Well, I'm a big fan of good football, and I think that Croatia has a great team, I really like the way they do it, and also small details like their uniform, I really like the colors they have, Croatia is a very quiet team, and those teams that are of that style can give big surprises, I only remember how Davor Suker played, an experienced player, veteran and who led Croatia to win many things, a 3rd place is not bad at all, the way things are going, Croatia could easily reach the final, my country has never been to a World Cup, but I imagine that when they listen to the Croatian national anthem the emotion must be unique, I think that if one day my country goes to the World Cup and I hear the anthem, I would cry without doubt, for me Croatia will go very far and be careful, because they can reach the final and win everything.

Thanks, I agree with you! 
In fact, I think that Croatia today is a very good combination of experience and youth.
On the one hand, older and experienced players like Modric, Brozovic, Kovacic, Perisic, and on the other, young and talented players like Orsic, Guardiol, Sosa, Stanisic, Livaja...
I think we have a very well balanced team, strong in all positions in the team and I think we can expect great results again at the World Cup.
Final again? Why not? 

Yeah, it would be a really fascinating final, all the eyes of the world would be on Messi and Ronaldo. Both great players doing their best to try to win the world cup for their country, in probably what would be the last chance of their professional lives.

Although I think the final will have Brazil in it...

Croatia has a great team, especially with Modric in it. You have every right to be proud of your national team.

They have a great coach along with a well-balanced team that has strength, both speed and power, defense ability, and good goalkeeper. They played very well in the last World Cup and if they can play again in the same way, I think Croatia will be a strong team to look out for at the World Cup in Qatar, regardless of the fact that some of their players are aging and some young players are still inexperienced in international tournaments. But still, their team is filled with players who play for some of the best clubs in Europe, which makes them a dangerous opponent for any team that they meet on the field. I think Croatia can definitely make it to the quarterfinals and maybe even beyond that!

Well you should not forget that nobody thought Portugal could win the European Championship either. Now I wouldn't overvalue the win of the Nations League by Portugal, but they did win the European Cup. France was a relatively strong team back then as well.

It comes down to these one single game situations where a certain situation can decide the game. It is just one good moment and you take it home as they did against France during extra time with their single goal.

I believe that there is a variety of teams who can make it to the semi-finals for sure. Talking about the final is tough as it also involves luck. There will probably be penalty shootouts as well and that is also about luck. The favorites are well known to most of us, but the circle of teams who might have a reasonable chance to win the title isn't that small as some would perhaps think.

Thank you for the kind words about my national team. 
Croatia already played in the final at the last World Cup 2018 in Russia and unfortunately lost in the final to France. We were also third in the world in 1998, so we are already used to the good performances of our national team at the biggest competitions.
Croatia also played well in the League of Nations this year, beating France and Denmark away from home and winning first place in the group.
For a long time, Croatia is not only Modric, but also Kovacic from Chelsea, Brozovic from Inter, Stanisic from Bayern, Perisic from Tottenham etc.
We had a short crisis after the World Cup in Russia 2018, but again we have a very good team and we are ready for great results 
Portugal in final? Why not? 

It would be interesting to actually see that final. The decision of the world championship, to be played by the best players in the world in the last decade.
Although I think that Portugal has the team to reach the final, I have serious doubts that they are capable. There is a lot of controversy around the Portugal coach, his old-fashioned style of play and the choices he makes.

That's indeed a bit surprising that you as a South American would like to see Croatia against Portugal If you ask the average soccer fan in Europe, it is often about Spain, England, France, Germany, but also Argentina and Brazil of course!

Argentina would be fun to watch once more. While saying this, it comes to my mind that a great match for the final would be Argentina against Portugal! For a very last time Messi vs. Ronaldo in the biggest game soccer has to offer. I honestly think that would be amazingly exciting for many people around the world.

Then again there are of course many other potential matches that would be a lot of fun to watch. France in a final is worth it any time. But a surprise candidate would also be fun.

Everything is possible when there are only two matches left to play and therefore anything can happen. It will be a fleeting tournament and a lot will depend on what physical shape the national teams will be in, whether all the leaders will be able to take part in these matches. Moreover, it will all be in the middle of next year and so far it is useless to even roughly make layouts for the semifinals and finals. Here, a month or weeks before the event, it will be possible to say something more specific. Italy in general is a paradoxical team that managed to cut down with its own hands those excellent chances, I would even say preferred ones, which were first presented during the qualifying tournament for the World Cup, and then in the play-off match at the home stadium in front of its own spectators.

Are you comparing Croatia with Portugal?
If you say that Croatia can have a good opportunity, because many of the "big" teams are not dedicating themselves to this competition, I agree.

Well, I think that this is a way to have all the football fans waiting there, but it is as you say, the potential they have is not really shown, if they watch the games there are many new players who had not been seen before, for me this is a special opportunity to put those players that the tenciso have in their sights and see how they do with high-level games, but of course this does not guarantee anything, that is why I think that Your comments go, but even so, you can enjoy time with the stars that put them to play for a few minutes, but at least they see each other, and this is of great help to the technicians.

Well to tell the truth they are right, for me Italy is a country that has given us a lot in terms of football, many of us have experienced the emotions that this team always brings and awakens, I also admire their technique a lot even though they are very focused on what defensively, and for now I also think that Croatia has it all, we can't forget that they are under the captaincy of one of the best in the world and he is a player who is used to winning and he is Luka Modric, for me he is one of the best players that exist at the moment and it is as many have stated, Croatia is a team that can cause a surprise in the World Cup, it can reach the final, I would really like to see a European final even though I am South American, it is difficult to see that a Brazil not going to a final, but a final between Croatia and Portugal would be great.

Why not? If Portugal could win the League of Nations, why shouldn't Croatia? 

As for Italy, this failure can be explained by separates results, but given the fact that this is the second time in a row, this (taking into account the status of Italy) is more like a curse  Paradox - two failures in the qualifications for the World Cup and between them a triumph in the European Championship.

I can say that the timing of the UEFA Nations League is wrong. It shouldn't have come this period of world cup. Some players just had few days away from club to face international week and friendlies but ended up still playing tournaments in the break week. From the tournaments back to club games and then head to World Cup.

No wonder countries like France are not taking this Nations League so seriously.

This tournament might be a motivation for Italy. Most of the big teams in this tournament don't care about it. Because they are mainly focused on the World Cup which starts in less than two months.

However Italy aren't going to be able to participate in it unfortunately. Therefore they might at least do their best to win the Nations League to improve their morale. Spain, Netherlands and Croatia are all very challenging opponents. I'm not very sure about Spain though after seeing their not very impressive effort against Portugal the last time. But I can't say the same thing for Netherlands and Croatia. They've been both playing like they really want to achieve a title here. Both of them are a big threat to Italy. There is a very long time for the semi final matches though and let's see what changes in time.

Italy failure to qualify for the World cup this year is very dissapointing to some fans because they have all it takes to feature in the World cup. They have quite numerous quality players like Jorginho, chiesa, Immobile, and they also have one of the top goalkeeper in the world Donnaruma. Italy lack the the competence to win games and they underestimate small countries, they're the reasons they were took out by small countries. Italy can still get into more actions after the world cup with enough preparation and consistency in games.

I'm also sorry for Italy and it's really a huge shame that such a good national team, the current European champion, won't play at the World Cup, and they didn't play at the last World Cup either.
I really don't understand what happened to them in the world cup qualifiers? Overconfidence, lack of luck, insufficient preparation for qualifications etc?
Italy is a very good and experienced national team and they are always one of the favorites in every competition, but I would still give the host, the Netherlands, the small advantage in this competition.
On the other hand, I believe that my Croatia could surprise again and win this competition 

Firstly, this is an assumption that we cannot measure in any way, so it remains only to exchange opinions. And opinions remain only opinions, since there are no devices that accurately measure motivation and, in the end, tell who was right.
Secondly, I choose Italy because in my opinion "not winning something for a long time" is not a tragedy, but a normal state of affairs that the team is trying to overcome. But the situation that happened with Italy is a real disaster that is not the norm and thus awakens motivation.

Why do you think Italy will be the most motivated at the tournament? What about Croatia, which has never won anything, or the Netherlands, which won its last trophy back in 1984?
Croatia has already proven its quality by winning first place in a very difficult group with France and Denmark, after losing the first match in the group against Austria at home.
Personally, I think that we will see a very uncertain tournament, and that there are no real favorites.
I don't think home ground will be a big advantage for the Netherlands.

Final round of group stage have been completed for UEFA Nation League and right now have 4 countries will play on Semi final stage,

• Croatia
• Spain
• Italy
• Netherland

Checked with statistic games around group stage I think Netherland have favorite to be champion this time of UEFA Nation League depending most collected points in group stage than other countries. Netherland won 5 of 6 games in group stage and most win achievement than other countries in success lead semifinal. I think with impressive performance in group stage give impact for Netherland have favorite to be champion in UEFA Nation League after last season won by Portugal. Semifinal schedule match still to be announcement and play on June 2023 but still don't know about who become faced each other countries, maybe waiting drawing from UEFA early.